Cork first responders increase awareness of workplace safety
A group of voluntary first responders is spending the week running between towns and villages in west Cork, delivering talks and presentations on workplace safety in order to increase awareness about the risks of farm accidents.
West Cork Rapid Response members have been providing critical emergency medical care at accident scenes in some of the most isolated parts of the country since it was established 17 years ago.
It has 36 trained emergency care volunteers and, because they live in different communities in west Cork, they often arrive at accident scenes and begin treating casualties before ambulance personnel can get there.
That makes a critical difference and, every year, West Cork Rapid Response volunteers are credited with saving the lives of around 25 people in west Cork.
The talks and presentations are a novel way of educating as many as possible about the risks of farm accidents.
Electrician and vintage car enthusiast Densie O'Shea, from Drimoleague, knows all about those risks now.
Thirteen years ago, he fell from the bucket of a loadall while fitting a light to a farm shed.
He fractured his femur, his hip and his wrist. He also ruptured his bowel and fractured his pelvis in six places. Today, he preaches about safety on the farm too.
"I have seen people doing similar acts to what I did," Mr O'Shea said.
"I was in a bucket [of the loadall] with no safety gear on and I have seen people doing it since. It shocks me to see them at it. It absolutely shocks me. They don't realise that one split second and the whole lot is over."
Billy Barry, is farmer from Toormore near Schull.
Two years ago, he was attacked by a cow that had just calved.
He suffered 10 fractured ribs and fractured his pelvis, shoulder and collar bone.
He ruptured his spleen and punctured his lung.
Mr Barry is also a farm safety advocate and his message is a simple one.
"You can't be careful enough - you can never be careful enough," he said.
Dr Jason van der Velde, a consultant in emergency medicine, saved the lives of Mr Barry and Mr O'Shea.
He's one of the West Cork Rapid Response volunteers trail running around West Cork this week, spreading the farm safety message on this week's Beara Way Challenge run.
"Farming still remains the most dangerous occupation in Ireland," he said.
"Over 55% of all workplace-related incidents are farming related. It is absolutely imperative that we get on top of an epidemic of trauma on farms."
The Beara Way Challenge has been running over seven days.
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RTÉ News
4 days ago
- RTÉ News
Cork first responders increase awareness of workplace safety
A group of voluntary first responders is spending the week running between towns and villages in west Cork, delivering talks and presentations on workplace safety in order to increase awareness about the risks of farm accidents. West Cork Rapid Response members have been providing critical emergency medical care at accident scenes in some of the most isolated parts of the country since it was established 17 years ago. It has 36 trained emergency care volunteers and, because they live in different communities in west Cork, they often arrive at accident scenes and begin treating casualties before ambulance personnel can get there. That makes a critical difference and, every year, West Cork Rapid Response volunteers are credited with saving the lives of around 25 people in west Cork. The talks and presentations are a novel way of educating as many as possible about the risks of farm accidents. Electrician and vintage car enthusiast Densie O'Shea, from Drimoleague, knows all about those risks now. Thirteen years ago, he fell from the bucket of a loadall while fitting a light to a farm shed. He fractured his femur, his hip and his wrist. He also ruptured his bowel and fractured his pelvis in six places. Today, he preaches about safety on the farm too. "I have seen people doing similar acts to what I did," Mr O'Shea said. "I was in a bucket [of the loadall] with no safety gear on and I have seen people doing it since. It shocks me to see them at it. It absolutely shocks me. They don't realise that one split second and the whole lot is over." Billy Barry, is farmer from Toormore near Schull. Two years ago, he was attacked by a cow that had just calved. He suffered 10 fractured ribs and fractured his pelvis, shoulder and collar bone. He ruptured his spleen and punctured his lung. Mr Barry is also a farm safety advocate and his message is a simple one. "You can't be careful enough - you can never be careful enough," he said. Dr Jason van der Velde, a consultant in emergency medicine, saved the lives of Mr Barry and Mr O'Shea. He's one of the West Cork Rapid Response volunteers trail running around West Cork this week, spreading the farm safety message on this week's Beara Way Challenge run. "Farming still remains the most dangerous occupation in Ireland," he said. "Over 55% of all workplace-related incidents are farming related. It is absolutely imperative that we get on top of an epidemic of trauma on farms." The Beara Way Challenge has been running over seven days.
Irish Examiner
30-04-2025
- Irish Examiner
Sarah Harte: Our broken food culture is driving us towards weight loss drugs
Is the age of body positivity gone? The waif is back on the catwalk with millions embracing weight-suppressant drugs known as GLP-1 agonists. Hardly surprising that people turn to drugs to shrink themselves when weight bias is so heavily ingrained in society and being fat is so highly stigmatised. It's baked into our psyches that it's better to be thin, and when you fall short of this mark, it can be a source of intense shame. This is true for all genders, although it's particularly pernicious for females, such is our cultural bombardment from birth about the necessity of being thin. What makes people overweight or in some cases obese is complex and varied, with drivers including disordered eating, genetics, a dysregulated part of the brain priming a person to overeat, socioeconomic factors including poverty and lack of education around and access to healthy food. However, the elephant in the room is that a broken food culture has much to answer for. Societally, we have allowed transnational companies to aggressively market ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which have displaced healthy diets globally. Scientists have long warned that these foods are driving 'the pandemic of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes.' Instead of tackling the source of the problem, we are turning to biochemical engineering to solve obesity. These 'miracle' weight loss drugs mimic the action of a natural hormone, promoting the feeling of being full. No day is complete without somebody famous or otherwise posting snaps on social media of their reduced girth. Good luck to them. Yet, what is the cost of all of this, and how should the State respond? As reported in this newspaper on Friday, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) conference discussed last week how the Irish State's medicines bill could double if we funded weight loss drugs for all those who need or, in some cases, want them. There are over one million obese people in Ireland. Weight loss injections Wegovy (the brand name for a GLP-1-based medicine called semaglutide) and Mounjaro (the brand name for tripeptide) are currently being assessed for reimbursement under State schemes. Apparently, we have over one million obese people in Ireland who are potentially eligible for the drugs. Professor Michael Barry, clinical director of The National Centre for Pharmaoeconomics, posed a valuable public health question (somewhat ironically saying that big decisions had to be made): 'Do we fund them [the drugs] or fund them only for a subgroup of people?' Utilitarian policy decisions made by people like Professor Barry must balance the array of needs of the citizenry. Who gets what drugs, weighing the efficacy versus the financial cost to the State? Another question I have is: If we overfund these drugs, what resources might be diverted from other essential health areas? There are other considerations quite apart from cost. Two people I know are currently losing weight. One uses weight loss medications and seems very optimistic about her journey. The other is losing weight through the time-honoured method of exercise and pushing back from the table because she is dubious about the possible long-term effects of weight-loss drugs. Maybe she is right to be. Side effects As these drugs are relatively new, the potential adverse side effects in the wider population are still being studied. So far, it appears that patients ultimately have to remain permanently on medication to avoid weight regain. Lean body tissue, meaning muscle mass and bone, is also lost. Common side effects include vomiting, diarrhoea, and constipation, with some reports of hair loss. Where they are abused, more dangerous side effects occur, like inflammation of the pancreas. 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In the month that the HSE's National Clinical Lead for obesity, Donal O'Shea, voiced concerns about the inclusion of ultra-processed foods in school meals for which 475,000 children are eligible, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary responded that products high in fat, salt, and sugar would be removed from meals. Then, in the same month, at the IMO conference, it was debated how many adults we could subsidise for weight-loss drugs. Weight loss drugs are a revolutionary development that can improve human health as part of a suite of measures. Our clear focus, though, should be on the primary prevention of excessive weight gain, which includes reining in companies that produce UPFs rather than intervention through creating a culture of drug dependency for weight loss. The question is how we intelligently prevent the onset of obesity and diet-related diseases, particularly in children. We owe it to them at least to try.
Irish Examiner
28-04-2025
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Ireland at a crossroads over pharma
We should be grateful for some straight talking from one of Ireland's leading experts in the supply of drug remedies. After the disappointment over the ill-planned introduction of what really should have been a piece of good news — the welcome, if long overdue, provision of HRT — a warning is being sounded about the availability and affordability of other drugs. Michael Barry, the clinical director of the National Centre of Pharmacoeconomics and head of department at Trinity College, is the man to do just that. Speaking at the Irish Medical Organisation's annual meeting in Killarney, Prof Barry pointed to what could be the 'next big thing' in healthcare, weight-controlling and weight-reducing drugs. Ireland has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe and some estimates indicate that 1m people have a BMI of 30 or over. 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In an eerily prescient cartoon on that same morning, Irish Examiner cartoonist Harry Burton showed an isolated Zelenskyy clutching a prayer card while being handed a document entitled 'US Peace Plan'. A speech bubble simply said: 'Sorry for your loss.' Mr Trump, it must be noted for the future, has no great record of standing up to bullies or dictators, whatever belligerence he has displayed towards minor groups such as the Houthis. For the avoidance of doubt, it was he who signalled the frantic withdrawal from Afghanistan ahead of even Joe Biden, signing off on a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw US forces. When it comes to security and alliances, he is the worst president of modern times, a blusterer whose blowhard approach will have been duly noted by China, North Korea, by his opponent in the Kremlin, and by Iran. Nato has to draw, and act upon, the necessary conclusions for the defence of Europe. The Russians will be keeping Crimea, says Mr Trump. Of course they will. The time to have stopped that would have been 2014. They are likely, also, to keep the land they have invaded. The question now is how to recognise, and ensure, what Mr Zelenskyy said he wanted this weekend: 'Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.' Pope Francis once urged Ukraine to show the 'courage' of the 'white flag'. It's a phrase which may be heard more. Not over yet for Liverpool One of the great attractions of sport is that it always provides scope for a counter argument. Thus, yesterday's Premier League triumph by Liverpool, who have turned this season's competition into a procession, allows their many supporters to lay the ghost of an Alex Ferguson insult which has rankled for nearly three decades. My job, said the Manchester United manager, was to 'knock Liverpool off their fucking perch'. And in taking them to 20 top titles, overhauling the Merseysiders who were stuck on 18 since 1989/90, he did just that. After yesterday Liverpool have drawn level. They are equal, but not ahead. It's not over yet. Honours even does not cut it.
